Essential Hotels > England > County Durham > Darlington

Darlington is situated in the north-eastern corner of England, in the south of County Durham, and has a history bound up with the railways. Despite the region’s industrial background Darlington shows little evidence of any past manufacturing, even though such industries only really ground to a halt towards the end of the 20th century. Today, somewhere in the region of 100,000 people live in Darlington making it the largest settlement in County Durham, beating off the competition from Durham itself and Hartlepool.

The town is conveniently placed a short distance to the east of the A1(M) while Middlesbrough is further to the east. The River Tees runs near to Darlington, a feature that has fed the local, and indeed national, economy over the years. Darlington is also well placed for day trips to the North Yorkshire Moors to its south-east and the Yorkshire Dales to its south-west, while a little closer to home are West Park with its sculptures and the 91-acre South Park. Also of note is the Durham Tees Valley Airport which is located just five miles from the centre of County Durham’s largest town.

It is thought that Darlington’s history began some time in the Saxon period and it was first mentioned in historical records in the 11th century as Dearthington. St Cuthbert’s Church is one of the oldest buildings in the area, while the market was established in the settlement as early as the 12th century thanks to the Bishop of Durham. Darlington took on a prominent role in the development of wool making and it continued to be dominated by agriculture too. In 1569 Darlington experienced the Rising of the Northern Earls while further destruction was caused in 1585 through fire. The 18th century saw linen manufacture take centre stage before the introduction of the railways came to the fore in 1825. The first regional train journey went through Darlington on its way from Shildon to Stockton-on-Tees, and from this point on the town played an important part in railway manufacturing.

There are several attractions associated with the town of Darlington with some, unsurprisingly, linked to the rail heritage. They include the Head of Steam Museum and the Brick Train sculpture with its 185,000 bricks. There is also the Civic Theatre which is a popular arts venue and the Rhythm ‘n’ Brews Festival that brings together real ale and music.